New
Age Islam News Bureau
27
January 2021
• Nasrin
Sotoudeh, ‘Iran’s Nelson Mandela’ Is Back In Prison, Biden Must Push For Her
Freedom
• UAE's
Largest Bank Names, Hana Al Rostamani, First Woman CEO
• 58
Women Players For Monthly Saudi Women’s Bowling Championship
• Saipa
Crowned Champions Of Iran Volleyball League
• Yemen:
Mothers Of Abductees Call On UN To Intervene
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/setting-example-communal-harmony-muslim/d/124156
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Setting An Example Of Communal Harmony Muslim Woman Performs Age-Old Ritual At Temple In Vemulawada
A
Muslim woman performs the Kode Mokkulu (ox-tying ritual) at Sri Raja Rajeshwara
Swamy temple in Vemulawada, Rajanna-Sircilla district on Tuesday
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27th
January 2021
RAJANNA-SIRCILLA:
Setting an example of communal harmony, Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple in
Vemulawada permitted a Muslim woman named Apsar, who hails from Manthani, enter
the temple premises and perform Kode Mokkulu (an age-old ox-tying ritual) for
Lord Shiva on Tuesday.
Temple
authorities said that this was the first time in the history of the temple that
a Muslim woman was allowed to perform Kode Mokkulu. It may be mentioned that
unlike other Hindu temples, the Vemulawada temple houses a dargah on its
premises.
Devotees
usually visit the dargah after having a darshan of Lord Shiva and Goddess Raja
Rajeshwari. In the past, Mamada ZPTC member Mohd Rafi and his family had also
performed Kode Mokkulu at the temple.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/good-news/2021/jan/27/muslim-woman-performs-age-old-ritual-at-temple-in-vemulawada-2255481.html
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Nasrin
Sotoudeh, ‘Iran’s Nelson Mandela’ Is Back In Prison, Biden Must Push For Her
Freedom
by
Jeff Kaufman
Nasrin
Sotoudeh at her home in Tehran in September 2013. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty
Images)
-----
Jan.
26, 2021
Jeff
Kaufman is the director, producer and writer of the documentary “Nasrin.”
Nasrin
Sotoudeh, an attorney and human rights activist often called “Iran’s Nelson
Mandela,” is back in an overcrowded prison cell, separated from those she
loves. Under arrest since 2018, she was granted a brief medical leave this
month, but it was abruptly canceled on Jan. 19, the same day the government
froze her family’s bank accounts. That afternoon, her husband, Reza Khandan,
drove her to Qarchak's prison for women, accompanied by their daughter Mehraveh
and son Nima.
Imagine
what each of them was thinking and feeling during that hour-long drive — the
dread and the heartbreak. Those are emotions felt by political prisoners and
their loved ones all over the world. Repressive regimes use personal cruelty to
punish their opponents.
I had
the privilege of getting to know Nasrin and her family while directing and
producing a documentary about her life and work. We started production in
mid-2016, as certain U.S. politicians began advocating a Muslim travel ban. I
knew Nasrin’s story could help counter those stereotypes and highlight the
diversity and resilience of Iran’s people and culture.
Nasrin
was born in Tehran 57 years ago to conservative but empowering parents. As a
lawyer, she continually put herself at risk by defending religious minorities,
children, journalists, artists, women, peaceful protesters and those facing the
death penalty. She was arrested June 2018, in part for defending women who
challenged Iran’s mandatory hijab law by publicly removing their headscarves
and waving them like flags.
She
was sentenced to decades in prison and dozens of lashes. Yet even while held in
Tehran’s massive Evin prison, Nasrin continued to challenge the authorities.
Last August, she launched a 46-day hunger strike to bring attention to
dangerously unhealthy conditions in Iran’s prisons.
When
I think of Nasrin, and countless other human rights activists around the world facing
years of imprisonment and abuse, I am reminded of the young John Lewis leading
a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge into an army of state troopers and
sheriff’s deputies wielding billy clubs, bullwhips and tear gas. It’s not a
coincidence that both Nasrin and Lewis had images of Mohandas Gandhi on their
office walls. One of Nasrin’s pictures features a saying by Gandhi: “The true
measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable
members.”
Like
Mandela, another inspiring figure who often cited Gandhi, Nasrin has shown that
determined voices cannot be silenced, even behind prison walls. In December,
she was honored with the 2020 Right Livelihood Award (widely known as the
“Alternative Nobel Prize”), and the American Bar Association’s Eleanor
Roosevelt Prize for Global Human Rights Advancement (along with Anthony S.
Fauci and Billie Jean King). The Iranian government’s response was to transfer
Nasrin to the most unsanitary prison in the country.
According
to Amnesty International, Qarchak prison is “a disused chicken farm that holds
hundreds of women convicted of violent offenses in conditions falling far below
the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson
Mandela Rules). Common complaints include urine-stained floors, lack of
ventilation, insufficient and filthy bathroom facilities, prevalence of
contagious diseases, poor quality food containing small pieces of stone and
salty water.”
Nasrin
suffers from a severe heart condition, and within a month of being sent to
Qarchak, she contractedcovid-19. Thanks to global attention and pressure,
Nasrin was granted a three-day medical leave on Jan. 8, which was briefly
extended so she could have a much-needed angioplasty.
Is it
significant that Nasrin was compelled to return to prison on the day before
President Biden and Vice President Harris were inaugurated? It’s not possible
to know, but the Iranian government does have a history of using prisoners as
pawns. Biden rightly called the previous administration’s Iran policy a
“dangerous failure.” Now is the time to reinstate the Iran nuclear deal, build
some level of trust and press for human rights.
In a
letter written after her arrest to me and the film’s producer, Marcia Ross,
Nasrin said, “I’m sending you this letter from prison, but I’d rather talk of
freedom. So, let me speak to you of my dreams, and of roads traveled and not
yet traveled. No government out of animosity can prevent individuals from
having human relations. It’s time to put history behind us to look ahead.
That’s why when politicians show hostility, we need to hear words of love and
respect more than ever. I am so grateful for our collaboration. We lean on our
friendship and walk toward each other.”
An
urgent call for her freedom and the release of hundreds of other nonviolent
political prisoners is not a way to set our countries against each other. It is
a vital step toward mutual respect and cooperation. As Nasrin said, it is time
to “lean on our friendship and walk toward each other.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/26/nasrin-sotoudeh-iran-prison-biden/
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UAE's
Largest Bank Names, Hana Al Rostamani, First Woman CEO
Issac
John
January
27, 2021
Hana
Al Rostamani appointed as group chief executive officer of FAB.
First
Abu Dhabi Bank appointed Hana Al Rostamani as group chief executive officer,
promoting a woman to the top leadership position.
Al
Rostamani, currently the chairperson of FAB Private Bank Suisse, will be the
first female CEO of the $44 billion lender and takes over from Andre Sayegh,
who spent less than a year in the role. She is currently deputy group CEO and
head of personal banking, according Bloomberg.
Al
Rostamani is among a growing number of women tapped to lead companies in the
Middle East. Last week, Oman named Haifa Al Khaifi as the CEO of a new firm
that controls the country’s biggest oil block. She also served as independent
director at Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Co. and vice chairperson of
Emirates Institute for Banking & Financial Services
Other
women in leadership positions in the region include Sarah Al Suhaimi,
chairwoman of Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange and head of NCB Capital Co., and
Carmen Haddad, vice chairperson of Citigroup’s operations in the Middle East.
“FAB
has always been an organisation that champions diversity and the appointment of
our first female group CEO to lead our company into the future is truly
something to value,” chairman Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said.
issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/banking-finance/20210127/uaes-largest-bank-names-first-woman-ceo
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58
Women Players For Monthly Saudi Women’s Bowling Championship
January
26, 2021
RIYADH
— The monthly Saudi Women’s Bowling Championship kicked off on Monday in three
major cities — Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam — with the participation of 58
players.
The
Saudi Bowling Federation oversees the competitions. There are 18 players
competing at the Universal Bowling Center in Riyadh, while the Jeddah Lanes
Bowling Center hosts competitions of 24 players, and 16 players are
participating at the Gym and Bowling Al-Gosaibi Hotel Sport Center in Dammam.
The top three women’s champions will be awarded SR1,500 each.
Meanwhile,
the monthly Saudi Bowling Championships for men will start on Wednesday in the
three cities — Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. The number of men registered for the
competition is 117 with 45 in Riyadh and 36 each in Jeddah and Dammam. Prizes
will be distributed to winners in separate functions in these three cities.
The
Bowling Federation stipulated that each player should submit online the
federation’s annual membership fee of SR100 for registration through its
website. Those who have registered this way will be allowed to compete in 12
monthly championships in each city. There will be three open championships in
three major cities, and prizes, valued up to SR30,000, will be awarded to the
winners in the open tournaments.
https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/602926
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Saipa
Crowned Champions Of Iran Volleyball League
January
26, 2021
Saipa
defeated Shahrdari Qazvin in straight sets (25-7, 25-12, 25-17) in Iran
Volleyball Federation’s hall in Tehran to win the title for the second
successive year.
Mahsa
Saberi tallied a game-high 16 points for Saipa and Aylar Saeidi registered six
points for Shahrdari Qazvin.
The
20th edition of Iran Women’s Volleyball Super League started with eight
participating teams. The competition was originally scheduled to be played with
14 teams but eight teams took part under observing severe health protocols in a
centralized venue.
The
teams are drawn in two pools of four teams. Saipa, Shahrdari Qazvin, Exxon
Tehran and Sarvghamatan Babol are in Pool A and Zob Ahan, Khojasteh Eslamshahr,
Paykan Tehran and Setaregan Fars are in Pool B.
Zob
Ahan are the most decorated team in Iran Women’s Volleyball Super League,
winning the title six times.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/457402/Saipa-crowned-champions-of-Iran-volleyball-league
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Yemen:
Mothers Of Abductees Call On UN To Intervene
January
27, 2021
The
Abductees' Mothers Association called on the United Nations secretary-general
and his special envoy to pressure the Yemeni parties to release those who have
been kidnapped, women and the sick, immediately and unconditionally.
This
came in a statement issued by the association in conjunction with the fifth
meeting of the supervisory committee on prisoners and detainees held in the
Jordanian capital Amman on Sunday.
The
organisation documented the abduction of 725 civilians, including two women,
and 119 cases of forcible disappearances, including that of two women, held in
Houthi prisons and six civilians detained in the prisons of the
internationally-backed government.
In a
statement, it said kidnapped and detained civilians have a right under
international law to freedom, and those who have kidnapped them should be held
fully responsible for their lives and safety.
The
statement called on the United Nations and its special envoy to Yemen to put
pressure on the concerned parties to reveal the fate of the forcibly
disappeared civilians and grant them their rights without delay.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210127-yemen-mothers-of-abductees-call-on-un-to-intervene/
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/setting-example-communal-harmony-muslim/d/124156
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